I sent you a message yesterday on Instagram and I finished Water Under The Bridge late last night. My husband was a little worried that your book would trigger me and it certainly did, but it was so good and so honest that I couldn’t put it down and just had to ride the tidal wave of emotions.

I can absolutely relate (which is a little terrifying since I suffer from OCD) to both Kate and Jude’s inner monologues. I’ve always been a writer, but I’ve never had the courage you have to let people read the things I’ve written out of fear that it’ll be too blunt, too dark, too sexual, too much for the majority of the people I know to handle. Did you receive any criticism from conservatives in your life who read this? I wonder how you handle it or if the good responses were so overwhelming that it outweighed the bad.

I bought all the rest of your books and look forward to reading your extremely intriguing style of writing and hope I can get the courage to let it all come out in my own writing.

Your new biggest fan,
M

Dear M,

To answer your questions, yes. I received a TON of criticism from family and much, much more from people I don’t know. It is what it is, I guess. I can’t say that it gets any easier, but eventually, I just learned to deal with it. What’s that saying about opinions? Everyone has one. 🙂 They’re entitled to them, but that doesn’t mean I have to let it change my own.

To be honest, with my first book, I wasn’t at all prepared for the level of criticism I received and it was hurtful. It wasn’t that I cared about being too any of the things you mentioned above. I was just naive enough that I hadn’t realized so many other people would have a problem with it. 🙂 Still, I never considered letting that change my goals. I want to write what I feel inspired to write and so I let the rest be.

I think most times the people closest to you criticize because they’re trying to protect you. That or themselves. 😉 Either way, generally, they have your best interest at heart. Personally, I have found it’s easier to take when it comes from someone who cares. But this revelation only came after hearing from lots and lots of people who don’t. That, however, is a whole other topic. 🙂

And, of course, if you’re worried about either being an issue, you can always write under a pen name. It insulates you a little. As for me, I, apparently, like to take it on the chin. 🙂

Best of luck with your writing. Thank you for the positive feedback and I hope you’ll keep in touch.